Categories

Meta

Category: Research

Due to being close to running out of free posts on this blog I decided to set up a brand new blog for my third year of my degree. Please check out my new posts which will firstly feature my 10 week internship in sunny Malta and then my work over the last year of my degree.

This year Summer show was very impressive. With many talented people all over the university I personally think (probably a bit biased) textiles was the best!

This work was amazing. I think it caught my eye because I am interested in kids also the I love how she put some of her samples in hoop. I love the use of hoops as I use hoops in a lot of my travel photography, I have even created my own hashtag page on Instagram.

I also like her designs and her hand painted motifs. I think it was creative to use hand made motifs and translate them in to repeat patterns digitally. I Liked her hanger racks as they were different than other people’s which made her stand out.

Another person I really liked was Roni Marshal. I have done all her headers so I had a really close look at her amazing work. She has been inspired by Japanese culture. Roni hand painted all the final designs then digitally print.

I think her collection works very well for interiors, she is a talented painted and her work translates well on cloth.

I make sure I order samples from different companies and collections to really see the difference in making and designing. I wanted to have a close look at what the industry was doing, it was hard for me to research hospital gowns so I decided to focus on repeat patterns. This was a great way to see how and what patterns work well together and how they are valued in the industry.

To strengthen my technical and professional skills I have been ordering a lot of free samples from different companies such as John Lewis or Farrow&Ball. I order fabric or wallpaper samples so I can then create technical folders where I can compare them. I am limited to 5 a week so my folder is filling up slowly. I like to order samples with different patterns and in different colour swatches but I also get different plain fabrics so I can see how different they feel in life.

CALICO PRINTS – small floral, close coverage, 3 or 4 colours plus white. Also tiny geometric motifs as well as stripes and plaids. Traditionally used for dresses and aprons, frequently for patchwork quilts.

‘LITTLE NOTHINGS’ OR ABSTRACT – small, simple shapes in 1 to 3 colours. Geometrics, dabs, wriggles, crescents and commas. Usually a tossed open-spaced layout. Often the same design is done as light-on-dark and dark-on-light.

CONTEMPORARY – usually non-figurative, either modern and crisp, or painterly.

BOTANICAL – realistic and well drawn botanical motifs as found in illustrated books on flowers, plants, herbs. Detailed, fine, pen line drawing and lettering.

SCENIC OR LANDSCAPE – designs in which the motifs are placed in a horizontal layout and, when combined with the subject matter, suggest a scene. Can be rural or cityscape subjects. A realistic style of drawing tends to be used.

COUNTRY FRENCH – originating from carved woodblocks from 18th century Provence, France. Rustic look with an Indian and Asian influence. Often bright in colour. Small set patterns and large chintz florals.

TAPESTRY OR WARP – designs that imitate the look of elaborate embroideries or woven jacquard fabrics. The vertical, (warp), or horizontal, (weft), threads are emphasised by paint or by pen and ink. Graph paper can also be used as a guide.

WEAVES – similar to the above, but extended to include effects such as straw, flax, bamboo, rattan, cord, wicker, basketry, knits, crochet, etc. Can be used as independent designs or as background effects..

DOCUMENTARY – inspired by or adapted from a decorative historical document or fabric. Can be from any culture. Usually a fairly close approximation of the original.

What I did like was the amount of clothing they had to offer, there was more then dozen of categories and after you clicked on one more subcategories opened. They had really good products within the categories too.

After clicking on a products you get a choice of colours and size, after clicking on a picked colour you can see how many they have in each size. I think is a really idea for when people are ordering more then few garments.